Wall Street Journal | Communiqué PR
26Oct
5 Tips for Building Relationships with National Journalists and Media
“For forever and a day, I shall chase that white whale." – Captain Ahab, “Moby Dick” Had Captain Ahab worked in public relations instead of whaling, his quote may have referred to securing the elusive, top-tier national coverage that so many clients seek. Everyone wants to see their name in valued news outlets such as The New York Times, The [...]
Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR, Execution, Media, Planning, Positioning, PUBLIC RELATIONS, Strategy, Writing
11Sep
Who’s the Boss?
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently published an article highlighting how the management structure of top-heavy companies can be challenging for employees and often leads to inefficiencies. For many workers having more than one boss causes frustration and confusion in the office. The article supports this claim by citing results from a Gartner survey that indicates more than two-thirds of [...]
Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR
Smartsheet Announces $26 Million in Venture Funding
As anyone I work with knows, I am a huge fan of Smartsheet.com, Inc. and its cloud-based collaboration solution. Verdiem’s Chris Baker, vice president of marketing, and John Scumniotales, president, introduced me to Smartsheet in November 2011. John, one of the founders of Scrum – the most widely adopted method for agile software development – is all about making sure [...]
Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR, Execution, INDUSTRY, Our Results, PUBLIC RELATIONS, Tech Industry
The Keys to Becoming an Industry Thought Leader
Over the last two months, we’ve had the pleasure of working with Verdiem to execute a targeted media relations campaign to generate coverage in national and local business publications as well as IT and green IT vertical publications for a new product announcement. Our objective was to help Verdiem continue to establish itself as a thought leader in PC power [...]
Filed under: Business to Business, Execution, Our Results, Planning, Positioning, Reputation Management, Strategy, Tech Industry
How Headlines Shape Perceptions
[caption id="attachment_2120" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Photo Credt: ChineseGrandma.com"][/caption] A headline can make or break a news story. The ultimate goal is to grab a reader’s attention – the catchier and more thought provoking the better – but, it is still essential that the headline embodies the underlying theme of the story. A good example of this is the headline of [...]
Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR, Media, Planning, Positioning
Oprah’s New TV Network Opens a Wealth of Opportunity For Companies
With the launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that more than one million viewers tuned in for its first prime-time show airings. According to the article, more women between the ages of 25 and 54 “were watching OWN than were watching all but two other cable networks –ESPN and USA.” In the [...]
Filed under: Media
Are Product Reviews Still Relevant?
Prior to the arrival of mass blogging platforms, such as Wordpress, Tumblr & Blogger, product reviews were the bread and butter of a new or updated product’s world debut. PR pros would enlist key reviewers from the most influential publications to honor an embargo, and in return, receive shiny new hardware or a snazzy software package to test drive before [...]
Filed under: Business to Business, Consumer, Media, Planning
Will WikiLeaks Impact Journalism?
The recent leak of thousands of reports surrounding the war in Afghanistan has become the focus of much discussion over the past couple of weeks. Not only the validity of these reports and the ramifications the information could have for the government, but also how technology’s role in assisting with the release of information will impact journalism. In late July, [...]
Filed under: INDUSTRY, Media
Could Mobile Apps Be a Driving Force in Customer Engagement for SMBs?
Many people believe 2010 is the year of the mobile app. A recent report from analyst firm, Gartner states consumers will spend $6.2 billion in 2010 in mobile application stores. The increasing penetration of smartphones, coupled with the recent release of the Apple iPad is fueling additional buzz around mobile apps. It is interesting to note that, according to Gartner, [...]
Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR
Whole Foods . . . Not so Wholesome Anymore?
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, recently found himself in hot water when he published an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, candidly expressing his personal opinions about healthcare reform. In the article, Mackey argued we should move, "toward less government control and more individual empowerment" and outlined eight reforms that would improve healthcare for everyone. The op-ed piece [...]
Filed under: Crisis Communications
Transparency Is Not an Option
Transparency is an issue that continues to arise as social mediums and online communications gain momentum. Social media provides companies with a great opportunity to represent their brands and interact and build relationships with key influencers and consumers. However, if a company fails to be completely transparent in its online communications, the result can be devastating to its reputation and [...]
Filed under: PR trends, Reputation Management
Bing versus Google – How Healthy Competition Builds Media Buzz
Microsoft's new search engine Bing has been grabbing headlines since its official launch on June 3. Expected to rival search engine giant Google, Bing is gaining popularity and, according to recent comScore Networks data, is boosting Microsoft's market position. So what makes Bing the new search engine darling? Is it the friendly user interface or the new Explorer Panel that [...]
Filed under: Social media, Tech Industry
The Top 10 Most Influential Tech Bloggers
Many of our clients are in the technology industry, so we often work with tech bloggers. These bloggers have become increasingly influential as customers look online for advice before making big purchases. And while there are many important tech bloggers, a few stand out as the most influential. So without further ado, here is our list of the top 10 [...]
Filed under: Media, Social media, Tech Industry
How to Connect with Reporters and Influencers on Twitter
There's been a lot of discussion about the popularity of Twitter and its growth over the past year. Twitter's popularity has extended into the media with many high profile and prolific journalists (think CNN's Larry King, NBC News' David Gregory and Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg) using the micro-blogging site to interact with their readers and colleagues. Given this, we [...]
Filed under: Media, Social media
Business Lessons From Emerging Markets
We are in many ways living in unprecedented times. As banks and major companies crumble and the economy worsens, there seem to be increasingly fewer historical examples on which to base our current policies. But as Martin S. Roth and Richard Ettenson point out in a March 23 Wall Street Journal article, there is an often-overlooked model from which businesses [...]
Filed under: Business to Business, Positioning
TechFlash and Whrrl Launch Parties
Last night Colleen Moffitt, Melissa Liton, Paulette Zimmerman and I had the opportunity to attend TechFlash's launch party at the Palace Ballroom. What a fun night! It was terrific to catch up with the movers and shakers in Seattle's tech community. Highlights of the TechFlash event included mingling with Jeremy Lewis of Big Fish Games; chatting up Brian McAndrews before [...]
Filed under: Business to Business, Media, Tech Industry
The Mossberg Influence
Walt Mossberg is a very influential figure in the technology industry. In August 2004, David Brown, anchor of Marketplace stated, "Mossberg is both feared and respected by makers of computers and other digital gadgetry." His rock-star status in the tech industry has prompted companies to want to get in front of him and win his stamp of approval on their [...]
Filed under: Media, Tech Industry
Experimental Advertising Techniques and the Economy
With the financial crisis looming ever larger, it is no surprise that some businesses such as AT&T and General Motors are slashing marketing budgets in an effort to stay afloat in this volatile economic environment.According to recent articles, advertising agencies will be among the first shops to feel the impact of the economy as companies cut advertising budgets and fewer [...]
Filed under: Execution, Planning, Strategy